Whispering_Jack

I seem to remember that there was some discussion from the club years ago that Man U was a club that we would be trying to emulate in all respects - on and off the field. Like many interesting notions, that one went quickly down the gurgler.

I'm alright with all of this as long as Trenners doesn't have any cream applied to his calf injury - even if there's nothing wrong with the calf to start with.

What happened to taking things one week at a time?

I heard on the radio that Jack Grimes is going to be put on the LTI but who knows what to believe on the radio these days? Yesterday, someone on SEN said Paul Roos was going to coach us. Go figure?

This is the same Doc Larkin who during 2011 said Tom Scully's knee was stuffed and his career would be curtailed as a result?

What's this? Why are you talking football on this thread?

The Bombers have done a wonderful snow job to date with the Ziggy Report, a report paid for by the club and produced by a fan. Better to have had an independent report done or better still, waited for the ASADA and ACC investigations to be completed and for the facts to come out, surely? Perhaps they can commission someone else to do a report when that happens?

Problem is the media have moved on an there's nobody to issue an apology for the slur and nobody cares anyway. Worse still. The man who once could have set an example for the young of his community is looking more and more lost every day.

I agree this is not the time for knee jerk reactions about the coaching position but the jungle drums are beating. I like your approach and it resonates with me because it reminds me of another time when everybody seemed to be baying for the blood of one of our coaches. I might be digressing a bit but, as a club we were in a sad and sorry state in 1986 when John Northey took up the coaching mantle. The Barassi five year plan had seemingly gone awry and although we started off well enough under Northey (but we lost the night series game against North Adelaide!!), we fell into a massive mid season slump with regular defeats in excess of 100 points. Carlton beat us by 116 points at the G, Essendon by 122 points also at the G and we copped a belting from Sydney by 124 at the SCG. Even wooden spooners St. Kilda (who only won one other game that year) thrashed us at Moorabbin by 52 points. I remember leaving VFL Park Waverley after another devastating defeat at the hands of Hawthorn (about 11 goals) and the supporters outside the ground were calling for Northey to be sacked. Then something unusual happened ... Former Hawk Don Scott was a commentator (3LO I think) and, as I was driving home, I expected him to come out with a scathing attack on the club. Instead, he actually complimented Northey and the way he was coaching. Said he had a purpose in what he was doing and he just had to drill that into the players. He felt that eventually the players would get it right and improvement would come quicker than people might think. I was gobsmacked and personally thought Scott was nuts but twelve months later, we clicked as a team and went deep into the finals. I know the cirumstances are different today and Melbourne did end 1986 with a fair number of wins (mostly against fellow cellar dwellers) but, to overcome numerous debiltating morale defeating losses and 12 months later beat North Melbourne by over 118 points in our first final in 23 years was something to behold. I don't think you're nuts AOB but, after seeing Scott's prophesy come to fruition all those years ago, I reckon you just might be onto something*. * if not we're really stuffed

Doesn't count, surely?

Precisely why some players could be in trouble because the rules give players very little room to wriggle out if they become involved with banned substances. However, IIRC the Wade Lees story is tragic because the saga not only cost him thousands but he also decided to abandon an appeal against the suspension because of the cost of fighting the case. I think it's not a foregone conclusion that the Wade Lees case means that "attempted use" in that context is necessarily such that an automatic sanction would apply.

I'm getting the impression that the above information was leaked to you? Am I right?

Given the mood of Demonland ATM I'm surprised nobody's started a thread calling for the umpire or even the Geisch to be sacked.

MRP Now can we get the free kick back?

If there was no more "evidence" than that of an "unnamed caller", then surely it was rough justice that he lost his place in the leadership group? On the other hand, if the club spoke to the owners of the bar and got their story, then perhaps losing his place in the leadership group (without being suspended for even a single game) wasn't sufficient penalty and we would have been far better off imposing the sort of penalty that Collingwood did with Heath Shaw and the others which brought them into line. Perhaps if the club had dealt out tougher discipline with its errant players in the latter half of the 2000's, we might have been a club far better off for the experience?

For six or seven years of continued on field failure, we should get a priority pick. Then, three years down the line some idiot will claim Neeld experimented with the team and we'll end up copping a fine for employing a bootstudder who looked sideways.

But with what would you replace this thread?

Well if you become President then Julia Gillard should be the CEO.Redleg and the Redhead - another mentor/pupil situation and based on the way the country's running at the moment it sounds like a truly Melbournesque combination.

Toumpas' effort today doesn't look all that shabby. To be named in the best and to finish with 26 touches is not bad for a teenager and the drop to just three in the last quarter is understandable given his lack of game time over recent weeks. As far as the team is concerned, it probably did suffer a bit as a result of a couple of late injuries at Melbourne keeping players out and, of course, a fit Jesse Hogan would have helped as well.

You're welcome.Now let's get rid of Vlad.

Not much chop comparing Blease's game last week with this week. He copped a whack to the head, labored badly in the heat and then was subbed off. The opposition today isn't anywhere as tough I would imagine.

It has. We copped some flack when we let GWS get 19 points ahead of us. The media are going to go nuts about this no matter how much the Bombers win by today.

Crazy day here with ABC going temporarily off the air and two undefeated AFL teams struggling. Could be a good omen for the Dees tomorrow. ... oops, Bombers coming back just as those peptides start sinking in (I know, I'm scurrilous).

I won't tell you who's bog either.

Wasn't comparing the two at all. Simply saying that because a person has done well in one area, doesn't absolve that person of criticism in other areas of his work, which is precisely what you've done and therefore proved the point I was making.